Spreading-machine for coating fabric with rubber or other like plastic materials.



A. WOOD." v SPREADING MACHINE FOR COATING FABRIC WITH RUBBER OR OTHERLIKE PLASTIC MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, 1914. v

Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I F E 1 (NR- way? @666 as A. WOOD. f

SPREADING MACHINE FOR COATING FABRIC'WITH RUBBER OR OTHER LIKE PLASTICMATERIALS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. I914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

1,179,33. I Patented Feb.1,1916.

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UNITED SPREADING-MACHINE FOR COATING Specification of Letters Patent.

ALFRED WOOD, OF UXBRIDGE, ENGLAND.

FABRIC WITH RUBBER OR OTHER LIKE ELASTIC MATEBIALS.

Patented Feb, 1, 1916..

Application filed April 24, 1914. Serial No. 884,177.

To all whom it 1n ay concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED VVooD, a subject of His Majesty the King ofEngland, residing at lVestbury, Cowley Road, UX- bridge, in the countyof Middlesex, Kingdom of England, have invented'certain new and usefulImprovements in or Relating to Spreading-Machines for Coating Fabricwith Rubber or other like Plastic Materials, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in spreading machines for coatingfabric with rubber or other like plastic materials.

The invention is hereinafter illustrated in, and described withreference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a sectionalside elevation of part of a spreading machine; Fig. 2 is a detail frontelevation also of a part of such a machine; and'Fig. 3 is a detail viewof the principal parts of the present. invention drawn to an enlargedscale.

Such machines as commonly used for treating canvas for use in themanufacture of pneumatic tires and for waterproofing fabrics usuallycomprise as also does the present machine, a roller a over which thematerial b to be treated is passed and in line with this roller is avertically adjustable gage 0 to which the doctor or blade at isattached. This gage 0 is carried at its ends in suitable bearings so asto be controlled by suitable hand wheels and screws e by means of whichthe gage c is raised or lowered to adjust the thickness of material tobe applied to the fabric.

V b to be so covered is first wound upon a wooden roller or box 7 as itis commonly calledv and this box has as shown a square hole f throughthe center, which enables it to be placed upon a shaft or center 9 whichis of square section, with round section ends, for the purpose of beingcarried in brackets. In operation the front or outer end of the fabricnot shown in the drawings to be so proofed is sewn, or pasted or'leii'h, of canvas called a leader, and 't is t en placed over the aforesaidroller a. The gage 0 is then adjusted, and the proofing material, havingbeen made plastic, is placed in front of said gage. The proofingmaterial is kept from flowing over the sides of the fabric, by means ofa pair of side plates or cheeks h which in the machines nowforementioned plate or check commonly used are bolted to angle bracketswhich latter are adj ustably bolted to the face of the gage c, by a boltand sliding block which fits in a slot such as 0' but of rectangularsection which extends along the front of the gage c. In all suchmachines as the operation proceeds and the fabric I) does not run in astraight line, to the roller a' and the gage d, it is imperative thatthe attendant shall constantly so adjust the angle brackets carrying theside plates as to keep the proofing material from flowing over the edgesof the fabric.

Now the principal object of my invention is to provide means forautomatically effecting this adjustment determine the width beingtreated in accordance with the variations in the feed of the fabric.

In carrying out my present invention I provide in place of thepreviously described angle brackets, a pair of sliding or travelingcarriages i i which are attached to the front of the gage in a suitablemanner as by a feather key j running in the slot or groove 0 and bystuds and nuts Z and fiat spring washers (not shown) to enable just therequired amount of tightness to be iven to the carriages, as isnecessary to withstand the pressure of the proofing material only whenit is placed in position between the side plates or cheeks it carriedthereby. To a horizontal or table part m of each carriage z is attachedan adjustable angle bracket n to which is bolted the betains theproofing material in place, the said adjustment being controlled by theknurled wheel 0 and screw p which passes through a fixing bolt 9 and issecured by a nut r on the latter. Through a tubular pait s of eachsliding carriage i is passed a rocker shaft 25 which carries a crank uattached, and close to the other end of same is attached a pawl o withtwo horns 'v' 0 one of which is bent or offset out of line with theother one.

of the side plates which.

h which -re- A hole may be drilled through the tubularpart 8 of'thecarriage i and penetrating through the rocker shaft t into which hole astop-pin to may be placed to keep the apparatus in a neutral positionwhen so required.

A light rod :2 is pivotally attached by a screw 1 to each adjustablebracket 11 and at one end each, rod 00 is provided with an eye a tendsto move the crank pin 4 and the top left hand side.

end of the light rod 0 in an outward direction as regards the fabric Z),and the bottom end of the rod and plate in an inward direction, untilthe plate comes into contact with the edge of the said fabric one plate5 being on the right hand sideand the other on the Immediately above thebeforementioned pawls are placed tWo toothed racks 7 and 8 one behindthe other, and both fastened together. These racks extend along the topfront of the gage, and are plain at the center and ends to providesupports or bearings. The teeth on these racks are formed in two groupsthose on the front rack 7 pointing toward the ends and those of theother one 8 pointing toward the center.

Suitable means are provided to enable the racks to be vibrated orreciprocated and for this purpose I provide a drag link 9 which isjointly attached to their ends. To give motion to the drag link 9 Iprovide a suitably driven gear wheel 10 which has an eccentricallyarranged boss Which is surrounded by a strap or sheaves 11 the motionfrom which is conveyed to the aforesaid drag link 9 by means of a bellcrank lever 12 or other side of the machine.

In operation the fabric passes from the box f and is passed over therollers 13 and a and under the gage 0 which is adjusted to intermediategear suitably arranged on the 'the required depth, the sliding carriagesi are then brought into position, and the cheeks and plates h areadjusted to receive a supply of proofing material which is placed acrossthe fabric. The machine now being started, it will be seen that by thesprings 6 keeping a suitable pressure under the pawls 'v on the slidingcarriages i the plates 5 on the pendant rods 00 are lightly pressedagainst the edges of the fabric 6 and that if the fabric moves away atone end it allows the horn o on the pawl to be lifted into mesh with thevibrating rack 8. In this position it remains until the sliding carriagehas been moved by the reciprocating rack after the fabric 6 until theplate 5 on the 1 pendant rod a; is again in contact with the edge of thefabric which thus brings thesaid pendant rod 5 and the pawl o to theirthus moving sidewise the opposite edge of thefabric will havesimultaneously engaged the pendant plate 5 on the other sliding carriagei on the other side of the fabric 1) and it will have moved it outwardlythus compressing the spring 6 under the pawl and causing the pawl o tobe tilted in an opposite direction to that of the first describedcarriage thus bringing the inner. born '0' into the front rack 7 andthereby causing the sliding carriage i to move outwardly until both theside plates 5 in their normal position just make light contact with thetwo edges of the fabric 6. Thus the side cheeks 5 will be automatically.kept accurately to the edge of the fabric at all times.

In order to improve the feed of the fabric instead of making the boxeson which the fabric is wound of plain wood I may as shown on the one 7in Fig. 1 cover the surface with partially perforated thin steel rib bon14 which presents a rough surface to the fabric 12 and thus prevents itfrom sliding along the surface of the boxes while the operation ofspreading is in progress.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is 1. In a spreading machine for coating fabric withrubber or other like plastic materials, the combination with side platesfor retaining the plastic material, of means for feeding fabric pastsaid side plates, and means for automatically controlling or adjustingthe side plates in accordance with variations in the lateral feed of thefabric.

2. In a spreading machine of the kind described for coating fabric orother like plastic materials, the combination with a plurality of sideplates for retaining the plastic material, a slidable support for eachof said .side plates, said supports being automatiadapted to operateeach of said slidable members, and means controlled by variation .in thefeed of the fabric adapted to operate said racks.

5. In a spreading machine of the character set'forth, the combinationwith a plural; 12j5 ity of side plates, of a slidable mounting for eachof said plates, a rack bar adapted to operate each of said slidablemembers, a pivotally mounted arm on each slidable mem her, a plate onsaid arm adapted to engage 13 the edge of the fabric being fed to themachine, springs adapted to hold said plates in position, and meanscarried by each of said arms adapted to engage said rack bars, wherebythe variation in the width of the fabric feed will free .the position ofsaid slidable members.

6. In a spreading machine of the character-set forth, the combinationwith a plurality of side plates, of a slidable mounting for each of saidplates, a rack bar adapted to independently operate each of saidslidable members, a pivotally mounted arm on each slidable member, aplate on said arm adapted to engage the edge of the fabric being fed tothe machine, springs adapted to hold said plates in position, and meanscarried by each of said arms adapted to engage said rack bars, wherebythe variation in the width of the fabric feed will free the position ofsaid slidable members.

7. In a spreading machine for coating fabric with plastic materials,side plates for retaining the plastic material, and means forautomatically controlling or adjusting the side plates in accordancewith the lateral variations in the feed of the fabric.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED WOOD.

Witnesses:

J. S; Wiinnns, FRANK BLAKEY.

